Celebration Sunday Devo

Acts 8:26–40 ESV

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

God is on a mission: It’s a mission to save everyone who places their faith in Jesus Christ and accepts the free gift of salvation. The offer of this gift is extended to every person, regardless of race, gender, culture, status. We know not everyone will choose to accept this gift, but as we read in the gospel of John:

John 1:12–13 ESV

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

This story about Philip the evangelist and the Ethiopian Eunuch is amazing. Here we have a gentile - a foreigner - and a eunuch, who was seeking the one true God, the God of the Jews. His physical condition would have made him undesirable to Jews and romans alike, and it meant he could go to the temple, but could not enter it. He could never become a full convert to Judaism. But here we find him on a dusty road headed back out of Jerusalem, reading Scripture.

Now think about Philip. There are two Philips in Acts: Philips the Apostle, and Philip the evangelist. This is probably Philip the Evangelist, who was chosen along with Stephen to feed the poor. It is through Philip’s ministry that the gospel really gets spread to the Samaritans, a group of people who were despised by the Jews. Can you imagine, Philip gets told by God, “get up and go down to this certain road.” I don’t read anything else in there, no explanations, no giant visions, just a command. And Philip obeys. There he meets the Ethiopian, studying the Scripture, though he clearly does not understand what is said. But, God is on a mission, and He grants Philip the ability to sit with this powerful man, and explain the Scripture to him.

Notice something else: The Scripture the Ethiopian read was from Isaiah 53:7-8, which talks about the suffering servant. This One who would come and experience all this suffering and punishment on our behalf. The Ethiopian asks if it was the prophet who was to experience this, or someone else. What a perfect opportunity to share the gospel! And Philip takes it. He begins to lay out for the Ethiopian the good news about Jesus Christ. His sinless life, His suffering and death in our place, and no doubt His resurrection and His ascending back to God.

Remember we said God is on a mission? How much clearer could it possibly be? God sent Philip at just the right time to meet this man that despite the limitations was earnestly seeking God. God made it so that at just that time the Ethiopian was studying one of the clearest pictures in the Old Testament of the Messiah who had come - Jesus Christ. And finally, God in His sovereign plan made it so that at just the right time, they passed water.

I wonder if Philip finished his sharing of the gospel with Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Or maybe he finished it some other way that communicated the importance of baptism as an outward proclaiming of what Jesus had done on the inside. Regardless, what is not written but certainly implied is that this Ethiopian eunuch believed and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. In that moment, as they pass that body of water, the Ethiopian asks: What stops me from being baptized?

The Ethiopian was barred from going in the temple. He was barred from becoming a full convert to Judaism. He was probably barred if discovered from some upper circles in Greco-Roman culture because of his physical condition. But what this story shows us is that in Jesus there are no hinderances such as these to salvation, and becoming a full member of the family of God. The requirement, to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and repenting of sin and giving your life to Christ had been fulfilled. So, we reach the climax of the story. The chariot is stopped, they go down to the water, and the Ethiopian makes public his commitment to Jesus Christ, and His claiming of the sacrifice of Jesus over His life as well.

So, why focus on the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip? Because God is just as much on the mission of saving souls today as He was 2000+ years ago. Today, we are witnessing and rejoicing as two more people make the same proclomation that Jesus has saved them. They are expressing the same commitment publicly that the Ethiopian eunuch did on the road to Gaza.

Salvation is a gift that spans culture, time, race, gender, or status. All of us, each one here, are offered the free gift of salvation. Jesus Christ came, lived a perfect life, died on our behalf, taking the punishment for our sins. He was raised to life again defeating death, and now He sits at the right hand of the Father, as we wait for Him to return. We believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths the blood of Jesus poured out, and His body broken for us.

When the eunuch believed, he wanted to be baptized, not because baptism saves us, but so that He could follow the command of Christ and proclaim publicly the transformation God had worked in his life. Now we have two brothers who also have believed and proclaimed. They both have their own stories, but what remains the same is that God in His mercy and grace has gotten ahold of their hearts, as He has done with everyone here who has a personal relationship with Jesus.

Baptism is a sign, a symbol. It is a step of obedience as well, one that proclaims publicly Jesus’ sacrifice, our identification with Him, and that the benefits of salvation have been applied to our lives. It’s part of what it means to be in the church. Baptism is an awesome moment for us as a church body where we get to rejoice in the salvation of two more people.

So, in the next few minutes together, as we support these guys as they take this step of obedience, we need to praise God, because He in His love has brought two more into the fold. God is on a mission, and just like Philip and the Ethiopian, God calls to each one of us as well.

We want to give time for you to respond as well. Jesus Christ died so that you could be set free from sin and the power of death. Every single one of us was on a path the hell, because we are sinners. We have disobeyed the almighty God. We have scorned Him and broken His good law. We are broken, and unworthy. But Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for us: the worthy one who did no wrong literally took on all the guilt of our sin and gave His life for us. Now, only because of Jesus we can be set free. We can live in hope. We can walk in freedom even from the deepest, darkest sins. We can live with the sure hope of spending our eternity with Christ. Hell doesn’t hold power over us, neither does sin or the grave. We are free, and even as the Ethiopian rejoiced, so we can literally jump up and down with excitement right now. What we’re about to see today is two guys who are testifying to that very fact. Not that they are perfect, but that God in His great mercy and grace has saved them, and they are made new in Him, that Jesus took their place, and that they are saved. That’s the message of baptism. So, if you would like to know Jesus like that, but haven’t yet accepted Him as Lord and Saviour, you can do that right now. After we’re doing these baptisms, there will be a chance for anyone else who wants to make a commitment to Christ to come forward and talk with me about doing so. If you would like to get baptized and haven’t been yet, we would love to baptize you as well and help you take that step of obedience.

Friends, God’s on a mission, and we get to a part of it! Praise God, for how He has worked so that we may be free, and live in newness of life. Let’s celebrate this together and support these guys as they take this step of obedience.

Pray.